New eggs are attached to the hair shaft very close to the scalp. Eggs that still contain a louse embryo are brownish in color, while the empty egg shells are white to grey.
They are very small and will be a dark golden-brown colour if they are about to hatch or are white if the louse has already hatched and left the egg. If they are full then they will be plump and shiny. What does a dead lice egg look like? A dead lice egg will be white or grey.
Dead nits are often black in colour and are found well away from the scalp. Nits are laid on the hair shaft within 1cm of the scalp and take about 7-10 days to hatch into head lice.
After each treatment, checking the hair and combing with a nit comb to remove nits and lice every 2–3 days may decrease the chance of self–reinfestation. Continue to check for 2–3 weeks to be sure all lice and nits are gone.
Nits and their shells may remain in the hair for some time but won't be viable. Many prescription head lice treatments target nits along with adult head lice. If you used a product like this, no combing is necessary unless you can't wait to get rid of the dead shells.
There is no way to look at a nit with the naked eye and determine if it is dead or alive. And although some people claim it does, popping them does not prove that one way or the other either. They are just too small. The only proof is when they don't hatch 7-10 days later.
Nits are often confused with other things found in the hair such as dandruff, hair spray droplets, and dirt particles. If no live nymphs or adult lice are seen, and the only nits found are more than ¼-inch from the scalp, the infestation is probably old and no longer active and does not need to be treated.
If a person cannot find any nymphs or adult lice in the scalp and the nits are more than a quarter of an inch from the scalp, these may be dead and from an old infestation.
If you do not comb out all the remaining nits, they will hatch and restart the cycle in 7-10 days from that point. That's why we recommend 3 treatments over a 12-day period of time.
Head lice sometimes go away on their own because there are not enough insects to maintain the infestation, or they may persist for an indefinite period without treatment. With proper treatment, the infestation usually goes away within about two weeks.
Check if it's head lice
They can be difficult to spot in your hair. Head lice eggs (nits) are brown or white (empty shells) and attached to the hair.
Live lice eggs are small brown or tan coloured dots on hair shafts close to the scalp. These can be incredibly difficult to spot. Broken egg shells, or nits, are easier to spot. It's common for parents to mistake nits for dandruff.
Lice eggs (nits).
These look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown dots before they hatch. Lice lay nits on hair shafts close to the scalp, where the temperature is perfect for keeping warm until they hatch.
Head lice eggs are small (the size of a pinhead) and oval. A live egg will 'pop' when squashed between fingernails. Dead eggs have crumpled sides and hatched eggs look like tiny boiled eggs with their tops cut off. To optimise treatment remove as many eggs as possible.
You will see the bugs. They will sink. The nits, which are the eggs, will float to the top of the water, they are often brown and a tear drop shape.
Wipe the comb clean on a piece of tissue between each stroke. Continue until you can't see any more lice or nits after combing. This will probably take at least half an hour. Repeat every three or four days for at least two weeks so you remove any hatching lice before they have the chance to lay new eggs.
Be sure to note and follow how long the medication should be left on the hair and how it should be washed out. Using the Nit Comb can take 1-3 HOURS in order to get out all nits and lice from the hair. Lift a small section of hair (about 1 to 2 inches wide). Comb through this section starting at the roots.
Lice eggs that have already hatched will be transparent/translucent in color and usually appear white in the hair. These nits no longer have lice inside of them, so they are not a threat. Unhatched or “viable” nits have color to them, they begin golden brown and then become darker the closer they are to hatching.
If you removed nits, they will float; if you removed dandruff flakes, they will sink. Heated air is an effective form of lice treatment.
Lice eggs are so small you would never know if they hatched or not. The only way to prevent them from hatching would be to remove them with a good metal nit comb, or your fingernails.
Head lice survive less than one or two days if they fall off the scalp and cannot feed. Head lice eggs (nits) cannot hatch and usually die within a week if they do not remain under ideal conditions of heat and humidity similar to those found close to the human scalp.
Any nits that fall off the head will not hatch or reattach. While most head lice control should focus on treating infested people, some simple things can be done in the environment: Wash bedding in hot water (above 130° F) and dry in a hot dryer.
Life Cycle:
Nits take about 1 week to hatch (range 6 to 9 days). Viable eggs are usually located within 6 mm of the scalp. ) and become adults about 7 days after hatching.